Homemade Pork Sausages

I did it!My hubby brought pork intestines (sausage skin) with him from Europe and so I could finally make my own sausages!But as I didn't have the special machine to fill the sausages I had to be creative. And my idea worked! The only negative thing is, that air is being pushed in as well and you have to manually remove it. It's a wee bit more complicated and time consuming. I will buy such a machine where you can grind the meat and then also fill it into the skin of the sausages. It will make my live so much easier. I made pork sausages, as I think they are really easy. Yesterday I served them to my hubby and he loved them! I am happy and so I will go on making my own sausages!

The meat has to be really cold!Cut the meat into pieces and push it through the meat grinder. I do this several times, here I did it 3-4 times as I don't like big chunks in the sausages. Now season the meat with the herbs ans seasoning, garlic, onion, milk and egg. Mix it well and knead it. (use one-way gloves)You can actually add any seasoning.Now fill the meat into a piping bag, mine gave me 4 portions to fill in. Wash the intestines well under cold water. Cut a little piece off the tip of the piping bag and roll the intestines onto the tip. Tie the end of the intestines up with some kitchen string.Very carefully pipe now the meat into the intestines. From time to time you have to push the meat inside, as it is very loose, and also to push the air out. Of course, who ever has a filling machine can use that, it is a lot easier. Tie the end of the sausage again with kitchen string. Now make approx 12 sausages of 15 cm length from this one big sausage by twisting the sausage skin. Again I tied them up with kitchen string on both sides of the sausages with a little gap in between. I got 12 sausages out of this mass. Now you have to hang the sausages up for at least 3 hours, so they can drip the liquid out. You can also let them hang over night in a cold room. I hung them over clothes hangers. Be sure to hang them over the sink or over a bowl. Afterwards you can vacuum the sausages and freeze them, or grill or fry them.They are very delicious with roesti and onion sauce or mashed potatoes.

Nun's farts - Carnival Pastry

Fastnacht - Carnival in Europe!There are many nice sweet pastries for this very special time of the year. I already introduced theOven-Berliner/Doughnuts a long time ago. They are not fried in oil, but baked and are so a light version of the doughnuts.The nun's Farts - sorry, but they are really called so - are very simple. They are fried in oil and absolutely delicious! Once you started eating them you cannot stop!

Why this name?You might think, the name of this pastry derives from Fart. (probably because oft the airy dough)But linguists think differently. Already in the middle high German spelling the nun's farts existed, but they were made with gingerbread dough. In a recipe of the "Neues Alamodisches Koch-Buechlein" (1689) there is a description of a filling made with pepper, cinnamon, ginger and marzipan, formed into small balls and packed into dough, then fried in oil. But in this book the name means the veil of the nuns. One of the first descriptions of the nun's farts has been found by historian Hartmann Joseph Zeibig in the records of the diocese Klosterneuburg near Vienna. He found some recites from the 14th century with the nun's farts in them.Fried Nun's Farts are known all over the German speaking area, but are mostly attributed to the Swabian kitchen. They were well known with this name and are also written down in some piquant papers of the 18th century, where the nuns were looked at as frivolous women.(from Wikipedia)

Beat the eggs with the sugar until they turn pale. Melt the butter and add the almond extract.Mix the flour with the baking powder, lemon zest and the ground almonds.Mix everything with the eggs. Form oval drops with two teaspoons and put them onto baking paper on a baking tray. Put them into the fridge for 30 minutes. Heat the oil to 180 C and fry the farts in batches. Let them drip off on a kitchen towel. They are best very fresh and still slightly warm!If you like them sweeter sprinkle them with icing sugar.

Traditional Three Kings Cake

Yesterday was the three kings day. That's the day when Balthazar, Caspar and Melchior arrived in Bethlehem to bring their gifts to baby Jesus. In the German speaking countries in Europe we bake a Three King Cake for this occasion. We hide a little plastic king inside one of the pieces, or an almond and who gets it in his/her piece is king for a day!As children my sister and I were very excited to become king for a day, but most often our father won, and sometimes my sister. I don't remember being queen ever. But we have a saying: unlucky in gambling, means being lucky in love.Today my hubby is king for a day!I took part at the #threekingscakesynchronbaking fromLanisLeckerEcke and Dynamitecakes!

Sift the flour into a bowl and mix with the salt and sugar. Warm 100 ml milk, add the butter to melt and then add the yeast. Make a well into the flour, add the mixed milk, the rest of the milk and the egg. Knead the dough until it is nice and soft.Let rest under a towel for 60 minutes. The dough will rise to double the size. Cut a middle piece for the cake of approx. 280-300 g. Then cut the rest into 8 same size pieces. Form nice rolls out of all these pieces and put the small king into one of those pieces. Cover a pie dish with baking paper and put the middle piece into the middle. Put the 8 smaller rolls around it but leave a 1 cm gap on all sides. Cover with a towel and let rest for 20 minutes. After resting brush with the egg-yolk and milk mixture, sprinkle with the almond slivers and bake in the oven at 190 C for 25-30 minutes. This cake is eaten cold. Be careful to not bite to hard into the king or you might end up at the dentist!

Swiss Biberli - traditional Swiss Almond Paste filled Cookie

I found a blog event at Kochfokus and Kleineskuliversum like to participate!Why?Because I always wanted to make the Biberli, but never dared. So I always bought them from the store. We love them very much and they are a staple on our Christmas table.
So, now I dared to make them and it was not hard at all!

Biberli are gingerbread type pastries or cookies, filled with an almond paste. They are very Christmassy and are perfect for this cold and festive time of year. I cannot describe them, you just have to try! But I can assure you, once you start eating them you cannot stop!

The Biberli are small pieces of pastry derived from the big Appenzeller Biberfladen. As it is a Swiss traditional pastry it is known since the 16th century. But actually it is known in some parts of Europe these kind of cakes have been baked in Basel and in Zurich since the 14th century.

It's also interesting, why it's called Biberfladen!
The word Biber has nothing to do with the animal Biber. (beaver) The real word would be Bimenzelte, bimen(t). It's derived from the Latin word pigmentum which means clove (the spice). Zelte(n) is a flat pastry.

Filling:If you live in Switzerland you can buy a ready made filling in Migrosor you make it yourself:200 g peeled, ground Almonds3 tbsp Rose Water2 Drops Bitter Almond Essence80 g Sugar120 g Honey1 Egg-white, beaten slightly

Mix all ingredients together. It should get similar to marzipan. If it is too soft add more ground almond.

Glaze:3 tbsp Water2 tsp Cornstarch
3 tbsp Honey

For the dough:Put honey, sugar and milk in a small pot and heat it up, bring to a boil, take from the heat.
Beat the egg and egg-yolk, add vanilla sugar and all seasoning and mix well. Add it to the honey mixture.
Mix the flour with the baking powder, then mix it all together and knead it to a dough.
Form a flat cake from the dough and wrap it into cling-foil. Refrigerate for at least 40 minutes.
Then cut the dough into 3 pieces and work with each piece. Roll it out to a long rectangle about 4 mm thick. Cut this into a long approx. 7-8 cm wide stripe. I cut them with the ravioli wheel.
Roll the filling into long, finger thick rolls, this is best done in a cling-foil as the filling is very sticky.
Put those rolls into the middle of each dough stripe. Brush the edges of the dough with cold water and roll them up over the filling. Then cut triangles from the rolls. Put them onto a floured baking tray.
Let them dry on the baking tray over night. (do not refrigerate them!)
Brush the Biberli with cold milk and bake them in the pre-heated oven at 160 C for 20-25 minutes.
For the glaze dissolve the cornstarch in the water and heat it up, then add the honey, mix well.
Brush the warm Biberli and let dry well.
You can keep the Biberli in an airtight tin for 3-4 weeks, but I assure you, they will be eaten far before that!

Soon we start with the Advent again and so who doesn't want to spoil his/her family with good food?There are not only Christmas cookies, Stollen and other sweets, but also festive breads. And we Swiss love our Zopf, which we serve on weekends and holidays. So I bring you two different ways to braid your Zopf.One is the traditional way the Swiss braid their Sunday Zopf, it's done with 4 "arms".The other is braided with 3 "arms like you do your hair. Both ways will give you a beautiful bread. Later I will bring you more ways to braid your bread but for now these will have to suffice.There are so many ways to braid or decorate your Zopf. I already showed you theNut-zopf, filled with a Nut mixture, The Bacon-zopf for the ones who like it salty, and the Chocolate-zopf. And my sister brought you theHeart-Zopf with Roses. There are so many different ways, so stay tuned!

For 2 Zopfs:1 kg of Zopf Flour (in Switzerland you can get the special flour in most shops, but if you cannot buy this just use normal white flour.)1 tbsp Salt14 g dried Yeast1 tsp Sugar500 ml warm Milk150 g soft Butter1 Egg, beaten

Mix the flour with the sugar and dried yeast and make an indentation in the middle. Pour the warm milk into that and add the soft butter. Knead all well together and when the dough gets together add the salt. Knead for 5 minutes or if kneading by hand knead for 10 minutes. Put into a bowl and cover with a towel, let rest for 2 hours. ​Then take the dough out from the bowl and cut it into halves. Put one half back into the bowl and cover again until needed.

For the 4 armed Zopf:Cut this half of the dough into two halves again and make two long arms out of them. I make it this way:Flatten the dough slightly, then roll it with a rolling pin out in a long piece of dough. Roll it up very tightly from the long side. Then roll the arm on the surface so that in the middle it is fatter then the ends. (see on picture below)

3. Now fold the top "arm" down and to the left, the left "arm" up and to the right. Again we always fold the top one first, then the bottom last. Your Zopf will not look good if you don't do that. 4. Go on folding like that and tuck the ends under the Zopf. Your Zopf should be going from fat to slim as shown in the picture below.This is how the Swiss Zopf is traditionally made!

For the Zopf with 3 "arms" you need 3 rolls of the same length and thickness!Cut the dough into 3 parts, flatten the dough slightly, then roll it with a rolling pin out in a long piece of dough. Roll it up very tightly from the long side. 1. Put the three rolls ("arms") onto a working surface next to each other. Tuck the ends on top together and under the rolls.

Beat the egg-yolk with a fork and brush the Zopf with it.Then bake the Zopf in the pre-heated oven at 200 C for 35 - 40 minutes. ​Test by tapping the bottom of the bread with your knuckle. If it sounds like knocking on wood your bread is done!​Enjoy!

Roesti made with raw Potatoes

After almost 10 days of Asian Food during our trip in Japan, I craved some comfort food from my home!I just wanted to eat some potatoes again, I think the last time I did that is 2 month ago! And what is better than a Roesti? Exactly, nothing!But as I didn't have any pre-cooked potatoes I had to make Roesti with raw potatoes. I very seldom do that, but actually, they get very nice and crisp with them. And it's very easy to make this Roesti!

Roesti can be served in many ways! It doesn't have to be the traditional way! Try these combinations:- Walliser Roesti, put them under the grill with topped with Raclette cheese!- Tessiner Roesti, top it with tomatoes and mozzarella, then put under the grill!- Breakfast Roesti, serve with bacon and fried eggs!- Mushroom Roesti, serve with lots of different mushrooms cooked in cream!Or invent your own!​

Brush the potatoes well, so you don't need to peel them. If you peel them you need to use them immediately. Grate them on a coarse grater and sprinkle with the salt. Let stand for 5 minutes and then squeeze the water out. Season the Roesti well. Melt the 20 g butter in a flat coated pan and add the potatoes. Fry them while mixing for a while on high heat, then turn the heat down and form the potatoes into a cake. The cake of raw Roesti has to be thin!Let cook covered on small heat for approx 10-15 minutes.Turn over with the help of a plate, melt the other 20 g butter in the same pan and slip the Roesti into it. Let cook for another 10 minutes. I served my Roesti with fried eggs.

Mixed Bread for the World Bread Day 2017

Even though I was following the World Bread Day with lots of interest the last few years, I never participated. This will be my first time!I am baking my bread for years now and will go on doing so. I live in Asia and the "normal" bread here is a soft sweet bun, tasting of nothing but cotton. It's nothing for a spoiled Swiss! We love a good crust, a light and airy bread with lots of taste!
In Switzerland, Germany and Austria people are spoiled with very good bread. You can buy it at all the bakeries. Here you don't, or if you find a n European bakery the bread is very expensive! They charge up to 10 US$ and more for one bread.
That's why I bake my own bread!

This time I made a mixed flour bread then I love mixing different flours! It gives the bread a very good taste! My hubby doesn't like seeds and so, so I never put any. But you could add them. What is important for us is the crust, this has to be crisp, fresh, nice. With this bread you exactly get this!
I reactivated (or revived) my "Sandro" (Sourdough) after more than one year, but I had to add some dried yeast, as Sandro is still a little weak. So, here is my first entry to the World Bread Day 2017!

Mix the dried yeast with the warm water, then add it to the starter. Add the flour and knead with the kitchen machine on level 1 for 5 minutes. As soon as the dough comes together add the salt. Then turn to level 2 and let knead for 8-10 minutes. Cover the bowl and let rest for 2 hours.The dough will not rise too much!After 2 hours take the dough out from the bowl and holding it with both hands in the middle, let the ends fall down.The weight of the dough will pull it. Now fold the ends in thirds in. Turn the dough 90 degrees and pick it up in the middle again, let pull and fold. Let rest in the bowl for another 30 minutes.
Take the dough from the bowl and cut into two pieces.
Now work each piece into a round bread and stretch the top of it. Be sure to pinch the bottom well together! Now put with the bottom up into well floured rising baskets. I don't have professional bread proofing baskets so I use the plastic ones. I also tried the natural woven baskets, but they are very hard to clean. Let the breads rest covered for another 30 minutes.
Meanwhile pre-heat the oven to 250 C. Leave the baking tray you want to use in the oven!
After the rest topple the bread over onto the hot baking tray, quickly score the bread to taste and put into the oven.
Spray the oven sides and the bottom well to create steam. Bake for 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes reduce the temperature to 200 C and go on baking for another 30 minutes.
Let the breads cool on a wire rack.

Swiss Puff Pastry Snack with Ziger Butter

In a Swiss cooking magazine "Kochen 11/2016" I found a recipe for Schabziger-Krapfen, puff pastry snacks. I took the recipe out and put it aside. Now I remembered it and changed the recipe a little around, so it fits to my availability. The snack turned out beautiful and tasty. Because I used Ziger butter the taste is not too strong, so even people who don't really love Ziger can eat them. These snacks are vegetarian, but if you like to add some meat try ham or bacon bits.

For approx 30 Snacks:2 rolled out Puff Pastry of approx 20/30 cm250 g Ricotta80 g Ziger butter150 g Leek150 g Carrots2 tbsp Spring-onion, choppedSalt and Pepper1 Egg-yolk1 Egg-white2 tbsp Oil​Put a cheese cloth into a sieve and add the ricotta, let this rest for a while so the ricotta can dry. Cut the leek into halves and slice them finely. Peel the carrots and grate them. Heat the oil in a flat pan and add the leek, let cook for approx 5 minute to soften it, then add the carrots. Let cook for another 2 minutes then spread this on a plate to cool it. Now put the chopped spring-onion, Ricotta, Ziger butter, vegetables with some salt and pepper into a bowl and mix well. Put the egg-white into a cup. Now put the puff pastry onto a working surface and cut desired shapes out (you can use big ravioli cutters, or these plastic cutters I used) you need approx 30 pieces. Brush the rims with some egg-white to make the sides stick together. Add some of the filling and close the snack firmly. Put them onto a baking tray and brush them with egg-yolk. Bake in the pre-heated oven at 180 C for 20-25 minutes. You can eat this snack warm or cold!

Swiss Apple Pie with Cream Topping

An apple pie can always be served, no matter if summer or winter!I love them especially when they are made with almond, cinnamon and a wonderful cream topping!I used puff pastry, but you could also usethis Biscuit recipe. But then I would not use the cream topping and you just push the sliced apples into the dough. This would then be an apple cake. So quite different, but I just want to show you how you can use part of recipes to make your own.A pie is a flat fruity tarte. In Switzerland it's a tradition during summer and fall to make lots of fruit tartes.

Peel the apples, remove the seeds and slice them thinly. Put them into a bowl and mix them with the lemon juice.​Put the puff pastry into the baking tray and pull the sides up. Punch with a fork a few times, then sprinkle with the ground almonds.Add the apple slices and sprinkle with the cinnamon.Bake the pie in the oven at 200 C for 15 minutes.Meanwhile beat the cream powder in the milk until foamy and thick.​Pour it over the pie after the 15 minutes. Let bake for another 20-30 minutes. You can eat the pie warm or cold!

Pork Medallions with Ziger Butter Sauce

As long as I'm still in Switzerland I need to use those delicacies Switzerland has to offer and are not available in other countries.One of them is the Glarner Ziger Butter.

Here I bring you once again the explanation to it:Schabziger or sapsago is traditional cheese exclusively produced in the Canton of Glarus in Switzerland. Schabziger is made out of the skimmed cow milk and a special kind of herb, blue fenugreek (Trigonella caerulea), also called blue melilot.The milk and melilot sap are heated to 32 °C (90 °F) then an acid (lactic, citric or acetic) is added causing curdling. The whey and curdare separated. The whey is further curdled at 90 °C (194 °F) and separated. The whey-condensate is called Ziger and is pressed into cones for 6 to 8 days. The cones are then dried for 2 to 6 months.The resulting cheese is hard, green with a strong flavor and aroma. Schabziger was first manufactured by the monks in Glarus, in the 8th century. The exact specification on how to make this cheese was laid down during a Landsgemeinde (town meeting) in 1463. The cheese also has to bear a stamp of origin, making it one of the earliest protected brands.

Ziger butter is available in the Supermarket and tastes wonderful on a slice of bread. I used it in a sauce to meat and it turned out light and foamy.

Wrap the pork medallions in bacon, you may tie them with some cooking string.Grease an ovenproof dish and put the medallions into it. Season well and put the thyme twigs onto the meat.Roast them in the oven at 180 C for 30 minutes.​Meanwhile melt the Ziger butter in a small pot while whisking all the time. Add the whipping cream, go ob whisking, season to taste and heat up to a boil. Thicken with some cornstarch. Pour the sauce over the meat and go on roasting for another 10 minutes. I served mine with Ricotta Gnocchi.